Don’t try to cheat public transport in Boston

MBTA cops have launched a crackdown on fare cheats and trolley operators are under orders to seal rear doors — forcing riders to board at the front and swipe their CharlieCards — as part of a double-barreled blitz aimed at recapturing lost revenue, while the cash-starved T is working on a plan to up the penalties for gate jumping.

“People have told us that if they are spending their hard-earned money purchasing their fares, then everyone should as well,” Transit Police Deputy Chief Joseph O’Connor told the Herald yesterday.

The T police brass have dispatched dozens of plainclothes and uniformed cops to high-traffic stations to snag gate crashers who “piggyback” paying passengers or jump the barriers. Since Jan. 1, T police have issued 946 citations for fare evasion, an 82 percent increase over the same period last year, when they handed out 520 tickets. By comparison, they wrote a total of 818 tickets in all of 2007.